Chicago to Austin: A Young Family's Migration (Dallas, Round Rock: transplants, renting)

[love roses]

I'd also say Georgetown, Round Rock, Bastrop, possibly Taylor. And seconding THL, all of these are towns in their own right, not newbie suburbs recently built by the Austin Monster.

[Rock 'n' Roll RN]

Ok, now to change it up. How about a family-friendly area that would be considered up and coming, but obviously not there in the sense of lofty prices, within the city proper? Some green areas and parks, maybe a few hip young families, and schools that aren't disasters.. Roughly around the same price range I mentioned before, appx. $200,000 to buy.

[TexasHorseLady]

Hmmm. That gets trickier, because of the price limitation.

However, you might want to try the area just south of Ben White, between Manchaca and Mopac. 78745 zip code.

Older, established neighborhoods for the most part, housing is in demand because it's close to SoCo but not IN SoCo where folks have been priced out. You'd want to check out the schools yourself, of course, both the statistics and, if possible, feedback from parents with kids in the schools. (Since the school that was great for my son would have been a disaster for my daughter and vice versa, and that's within one family, and since I myself attended a school that was rated in the top ten in the nation at the time and it just about destroyed my previous extremely high interest in education, I don't even begin to try to tell people whether a school is "good" or "bad"; Fair Housing Laws prevent it, as well, since I'm a licensed real estate agent.)

[centralaustinite]

In the city, I would second my earlier advice of Allandale, Crestview, and Brentwood. Getting in at 200K might be a stretch, but doable in places like Allandale north (north of Anderson Road), and parts of Crestview/Brentwood. You would need a very good real estate agent but the houses are out there.

[austinaggie]

Maybe French Place. Look in the 78722 zip code. I checked out the prices and although they are much higher than I expected there are a few $220,000 and below but they are very small. Don't know anything about the schools but I would imagine they are going to be quite diverse. It is definitely an up and coming area and I saw somewhere that it was being tauted as "the new Hyde Park". Although it is in East Austin it is very conveniently located and sounds like the type of neighborhood you are looking for.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by Rock 'n' Roll RN

Roughly around the same price range I mentioned before, appx. $200,000 to buy.

One thing to keep in mind is the property taxes here. It might be more than you would expect. Most people have to lower their price range a bit if they didn't account for the property taxes initially.

[TexasHorseLady]

Two houses popped up in that price range in a search of Crestview/Brentwood. Both of them were tiny and in serious need of work. Nothing popped up in Allandale at all in that price range. I did a map search of that whole area - from UT north to Anderson Lane, Mopac to Lamar - because it really did seem to fit the bill.

This doesn't mean that there isn't every anything in that price range available, just that you and your agent would need to have your eye on the ball and do some searching. A FSBO might turn up that was in that price range, for example.

[IDtoTX]

What about the Mueller development?

[TexasHorseLady]

One property for $200,000 or less (actually, $100 less) appears on the MLS at the moment. It appears to be a detached condo. So it would be a possibility.

[Rock 'n' Roll RN]

Thanks to everyone for the input. I'll keep you posted when I actually get down there to check it out.